The forthcoming General Chapter has as its main theme, 'What kind of a Salesian do young people look up to?' or something similar. The basic notion is to define or redefine the identity of the Salesian for the present times.
At times I wonder if we will actually say anything new or different from what has already been said - if not in the distant past, at least in the past one or two chapters. My feeling wells up from my own dilemma to formulate what kind of a person do I want to form (help form) as a formator? Having lived here in the UK for almost two years now, I certainly need to have a totally different structure or format. Thinking of the Indian context it is a different kind of perspective that I need to adopt. To be blunt, a Salesian formed here in the UK will never really be able to live and work in the Indian context to the best of his abilities. The same is true of one formed in India, out working here. While some basic information and historical origin remains the same, the way the Salesian lives out his vocation will be entirely different.
On second thought, perhaps it is not identity as such but the way the identity is lived or expressed will be different. So the actual working out of that expression is a task of the individual context, province, and ultimately of the individual. The congregation as a whole cannot really define it for all across the globe! What I do hope is that the Chapter will help us revise the consciousness of our core identity: as consecrated persons journeying towards the Kingdom, especially with the marginalised young. It will be interesting to see if there is anything else or different that is enumerated about our core identity.
At times I wonder if we will actually say anything new or different from what has already been said - if not in the distant past, at least in the past one or two chapters. My feeling wells up from my own dilemma to formulate what kind of a person do I want to form (help form) as a formator? Having lived here in the UK for almost two years now, I certainly need to have a totally different structure or format. Thinking of the Indian context it is a different kind of perspective that I need to adopt. To be blunt, a Salesian formed here in the UK will never really be able to live and work in the Indian context to the best of his abilities. The same is true of one formed in India, out working here. While some basic information and historical origin remains the same, the way the Salesian lives out his vocation will be entirely different.
On second thought, perhaps it is not identity as such but the way the identity is lived or expressed will be different. So the actual working out of that expression is a task of the individual context, province, and ultimately of the individual. The congregation as a whole cannot really define it for all across the globe! What I do hope is that the Chapter will help us revise the consciousness of our core identity: as consecrated persons journeying towards the Kingdom, especially with the marginalised young. It will be interesting to see if there is anything else or different that is enumerated about our core identity.
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